Canterbury Cathedral

12th-14th century, Canterbury, England

Above: Floor plan of Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. To the right are the later additions of Trinity and Corona Chapels. Select the blue circles to view QuickTime VR panoramas of this building.

Left: Window from the Cathedral showing pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. Bottom left: Pilgrim badges and ampullae from the shrine of St. Thomas Becket. Photos courtesy The British Museum.

Between 1171 and 1177 the monks at Christchurch cathedral in Canterbury, England, recorded hundreds of stories attesting to the miracle working properties of the remains of Thomas, their former Archbishop. Thomas's blood, dutifully gathered by those who were present at the scene of his murder on the night of December 29, 1170, proved to have especially strong thaumaturgical properties, accounting for the hundreds of pilgrim's ampullae that display his features. In fact, it was the potency of Thomas's blood that led to his canonization by Pope Alexander III on February 21, 1173.

Although Thomas's initial resting place in the crypt of the cathedral appeased the first few pilgrims that visited his tomb, it quickly became apparent that this space was insufficient to meet the needs of all those who wished to "see" his remains. When a fire broke out in the choir on September 5, 1174, the need to rebuild became associated with the need to address Thomas's growing cult.

The final design, begun by William of Sens and completed by William the Englishman, introduced the Trinity chapel, located in the far eastern end of the apse, which culminates in the famous Corona, an axial space that once housed a shrine containing the crown of Thomas' severed head. Richly gilded and decorated with precious jewels, including the Regale of France, a large ruby donated by Louis VII in 1179, this shrine was the climax of the pilgrim's experience. This experience, however, began long before one entered the cathedral, for the journey to Canterbury was full of holy sites, whether one began in Winchester, where a cult dedicated to the memory of St. Within preceded that of Thomas by nearly two centuries, or in London, following the route that Geoffrey Chaucer made famous in The Canterbury Tales.